


of bruises and not-so-superheroes

by xmhfilms



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Bullying, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 01:53:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14802113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xmhfilms/pseuds/xmhfilms
Summary: seungcheol wasn't a hero. he didn't want to be branded as such. but jihoon was in need of saving. and maybe a little bit of love too.





	of bruises and not-so-superheroes

**Author's Note:**

> uh, please excuse any mistakes, this is my first time and I'm really horrible at writing. anyways, enjoy!! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

  
"dude, have you seen that jihoon guy? heard he stole a car once and got his teacher in his previous school fired."

 

jihoon was numb to those kinds of things now. to those kinds of rumours. he didn't let any of that affect him. well, at least he tried. let's just say jihoon didn't have the best childhood. but no, it wasn't because he stole a car or lit his classroom on fire. not because he beat up his old classmate with a metal pipe nor because he killed someone before. it wasn't because of any of the far-fetched rumours his schoolmates made up. the bruises littered across his arms and legs that refused to disappear wasn't because of some gang fight. his schoolmates just didn't bother finding out what really happened. they didn't bother asking jihoon, mainly because of the fact that he scared them.

 

his introverted and distant behaviour was often mistaken as scary and threatening. he really didn't get why, he was shorter than most of them, standing at a measly 164 cm. he didn't mind, being alone. it was better that way. they didn't have to know his story. no pity, no nothing. he was fine, up until now, he had survived being on his own. he didn't need anybody, and he'd like to keep it that way.

 

-

 

"here's the appeal from the basketball team for new uniforms and the estimated cost for all of it. the art club requested a meeting with you after school, some sort of excursion in the school holidays."

 

minghao placed the files on seungcheol's desk, reciting seungcheol's schedule and to-do list like it was some kind of grocery list.

 

"thanks hao. can you get jisoo and mingyu to collect the survey forms about the school festival from the lower classes? thanks."

 

seungcheol looked up from his laptop, taking all the files minghao had placed on his desk.

 

the student council president briefly leafed through the basketball team's appeal and the total costs for the uniforms.

 

"do they really need a new uniform? did the coach say anything?"

 

seungcheol asked. minghao slipped his phone into his pocket after messaging jisoo and mingyu before shaking his head.

 

"nah. but their uniforms are getting old. I saw a few holes, I think it'd be better if they changed it."

 

minghao replied, taking a seat at his own desk. minghao was like the second-in-command in the student council. a secretary, some might say. he helped seungcheol manage the reports and problems within the school. not to mention that he was seungcheol's best friend. seungcheol trusted him with his life. he also trusted minghao's judgement. if he needed a second opinion on something, he'd ask minghao. if his opinion differed from the minghao's, the other would try to help him see it from his point of view. minghao would always end up being right anyways. that was why seungcheol could trust him with anything.

 

after all, they grew up together. minghao was that new neighbourhood kid from china who struggled with korean and didn't have anyone to play with. seungcheol decided to share his toys with him one day, and from there, they became best friends. seungcheol wouldn't be seen without minghao and vice versa. they spent all their time together, up until minghao started dating junhui, a transfer student also from china. seungcheol didn't mind junhui. he was nice and he took care of minghao well. he'd sit with him and minghao at break and he was always lively and entertaining.

 

"cheol!"

 

seungcheol was interrupted by the front door bursting open and someone shouting his name. jeonghan, the student council treasurer and one of seungcheol's closest friends, walked in sounding as if he just ran a marathon.

 

"there's a fight. basketball court."

 

seungcheol stood up while minghao sighed.

 

"who?"

 

he followed jeonghan out to the hall, minghao trailing behind.

 

"some guy. and jihoon."

 

jeonghan replied. a picture of jihoon, small and vulnerable, flashed in seungcheol's head.

 

"fuck."

 

he mumbled.

 

upon reaching the back door, jeonghan pushed open the door, seungcheol ready to break up the fight. they pushed through the crowd of students and seungcheol could hear minghao curse in his native tongue.

 

"hey! stop, break it up!"

 

seungcheol shouted once he reached the middle of the circle. he felt his heart pick up speed once he saw jihoon lying on the floor, one of his arms propping him up. he was coughing up blood, his face painted with cuts and bruises. his right hand however, looked like he had punched glass. he must've used his hand to shield himself from the glass because his left hand looked fine. seungcheol's eyes surveyed the ground only to see shards of glass lying around. he turned his head towards the other guy. and there it was.

 

he was holding a broken glass bottle.

 

jeonghan and minghao rushed forward to help jihoon up. meanwhile, all seungcheol could see was red.

 

before he knew it, his fist was colliding with the guy's face.

 

"cheol!"

 

minghao yelled, mildly surprised by his best friend's actions. seungcheol was like a machine. he just kept hitting, and hitting, and hitting. he was on top of the guy now, looking down at him. at his bloodied nose and the cut on his lip. minghao surged forward to wrap an arm around seungcheol's arm.

 

"seungcheol! seungcheol, get a hold of yourself! stop it, jihoon needs medical attention, don't waste your time on this guy."

 

minghao whispered. seungcheol was breathing hard now, heart beating so fast he was convinced minghao could hear it. he wiped his bloodied fist on his uniform and stood up. he glared at the remaining students that were standing there, watching what had happened, and they dispersed immediately. ignoring the guy on the floor, seungcheol turned around to tend to jihoon. he crouched down beside the smaller boy as jeonghan helped him sit up.

 

"we should get you to the nurse. c'mon."

 

seungcheol mumbled. he could hear jeonghan and minghao snort when he slipped an arm around jihoon's waist to help him up, and he glared at them. minghao stared back at him as if to question if he thought the glare would affect him.

 

"can you walk?"

 

seungcheol asked. jihoon nodded silently. at that moment, the bell for next period rang. seungcheol sighed.

 

"hao, jeonghan get to class. I'll help jihoon."

 

he saw the smirk engraved on minghao's lips and he had half a mind to flip him off, but the other had already ran inside to get to class. with an arm around the shorter's waist, the 2 began walking inside.

 

"don't you have class jihoon? what were you doing in the basketball court?"

 

seungcheol questioned as the two silently walked to the nurse's office.

 

"they're upperclassmen. free period I think. they dragged me there. didn't really have a choice."

 

jihoon mumbled, voice raspy and  _tired._ seungcheol looked away. what has this boy gone through?

 

"we're here. go sit on the bed, I'll get the first aid-kit."

 

seungcheol gently prompted the other, leaving his side to get the supplies. jihoon walked, actually, more like stumbled over to the bed. he climbed onto the bed, minding his injuries before finding a comfortable position to sit in. seungcheol, after washing his hands, dragged a chair in front of the younger and sat down.

 

"where's the nurse?"

 

jihoon asked as seungcheol opened the box.

 

"I'm trained in first aid, so sometimes she'll ask me to help out during her break. which is now."

 

seungcheol explained, taking out the bandage.

 

"give me your hand."

 

seungcheol said softly. jihoon extended his arm, wincing slightly. seungcheol flinched a little, the cuts were pretty deep and he was still bleeding. he examined them, making sure none of the shards were left there, before he pressed a small bandage against the open wounds.

 

"ji, I need you to press down. here, yeah, like that."

 

seungcheol guided jihoon's other hand to press down on the bandages he used to cover the cuts. he needed to clean the cuts on jihoon's face since those had stopped bleeding. he cupped jihoon's face, turning it to the side to examine the cuts and to see if any of the shards of glass were still embedded inside. when he saw it was clean, he dropped his hands. seungcheol didn't know why his heart was beating that fast.

 

"wait for a bit, I need to get some warm water."

 

seungcheol said. jihoon nodded. the elder stood up and walked over to the sink, placing a metal bowl under the tap as he turned on the warm water. he returned to jihoon after getting a couple clean towels and some soap.

 

"since there are cuts on your face, we need to get you to a doctor."

 

as soon as seungcheol finished his sentence, a flash of fear struck jihoon and he shook his head vigorously. there was that immense fear in his eyes that prompted seungcheol to calm the other down.

 

"jihoon, hey it's ok. it's only if you need stitches. if they're just minor cuts we'll clean them up, ok?"

 

seungcheol said softly, as if he was talking to a child. that seemed to calm jihoon down, and he nodded. seungcheol smiled, a small one. he dipped the towel in the warm water and brought it to jihoon's face. he gently wiped away the blood, some having already dried.

 

"does it hurt?"

 

seungcheol asked cautiously, afraid he might be hurting jihoon further. jihoon shook his head.

 

"I think the cuts on your hands have stopped  bleeding. you can stop applying pressure now."

 

seungcheol said as he mixed a tiny part of another wet towel with some soap before bringing it to jihoon's face. he wiped the cuts and used a clean towel to wipe the soap off, before applying a layer of antiseptic cream over the cuts. he then used a plaster to cover the cuts before moving on onto jihoon's hands. he repeated the cleaning steps he did with jihoon's face and applied a layer of antibiotic cream and covered jihoon's hand with some sterile bandage.

 

"make sure you keep them dry and clean everyday, ok? is your left hand ok?"

 

seungcheol asked as he stood up to wash his hands. jihoon nodded silently. seungcheol sighed.

 

"is everything ok? other than your hand and face, everything else is fine?"

 

seungcheol asked, wanting to make sure.

 

"yeah."

 

jihoon replied, cradling his right hand close to his chest.

 

"listen, if you need anything else, I'll be here, ok? do you have first aid supplies in your house to clean your wounds everyday?"

 

seungcheol questioned as he placed the first aid box back in the cabinet. jihoon stayed silent for a minute, before shaking his head. seungcheol thought for a moment. he took out another box, a new one, and handed it to jihoon.

 

"here, bring this home. before you go to school make sure you clean and dry them and apply another layer of cream and bandage ok? you might get an infection if you don't."

 

seungcheol advised. he turned around for a moment only to hear a slight sob. panicked, he rushed to jihoon's side, bending down to accommodate to the shorter's height.

 

"hey, what's wrong? does anything else hurt?"

 

seungcheol asked. jihoon shook his head before pressing his face against seungcheol's shoulder, flustered and embarrassed. seungcheol could feel his uniform getting wet, but he didn't mind.

 

"no one's been this nice to me. thank you."

 

jihoon mumbled. seungcheol chuckled.

 

"just trying to help. you should get home. I'll get you an excuse letter. do you have anyone at home?"

 

seungcheol wasn't surprised when jihoon shook his head. he chewed on his bottom lip, thinking. if jihoon went back to class, someone might bother him again.

 

"why don't you stay in the student council office? there's no one at the moment. you can stay in my room until school ends if you want. there'll only be me and minghao. I'll take you home later."

 

seungcheol offered. jihoon shook his head again, he seemed to be doing a lot of that.

 

"I  don't want to trouble you."

 

"you're not, c'mon."

 

seungcheol stood up, guiding jihoon out of the room and into the hallway. he brought jihoon up to his so called 'office' and told him to sit down at his table.

 

"I'll get you a spare uniform, wait here."

 

seungcheol said when he remembered his uniform currently splattered with blood, along with jihoon's.

 

when he left the room, jihoon let his head fall, a loud 'thump' echoing across the room. flustered, he crossed his arms above his head. no one's ever bothered to talk to him, let alone treat his wounds and save him.

 

there was something wrong with the student council president. he didn't know if he was either stupid or he just hadn't heard the rumours yet.

 

-

 

"so."

 

minghao started one he slipped into the seat beside seungcheol during break.

 

"I heard you're taking a half day and you're going home after break. what's that about?"

 

minghao asked, voice so innocent yet there was something in his eyes that gave away the fact that he knew what was going on.

 

"I'm taking jihoon home."

 

seungcheol mumbled, trying to brush it off as nothing special.

 

"aww. you're like superman, huh? that's cute."

 

minghao teased him.

 

"shove off."

 

seungcheol mumbled, trying so hard to contain his smile.

 

"he's smiling!"

 

mingyu, also in seungcheol's circle of close friends, laughed, pointing at the elder. wonwoo laughed beside him. seungcheol's circle of close friends were large. other than junhui, minghao and jeonghan, it consisted of jisoo, soonyoung, wonwoo, mingyu, seokmin, seungkwan, hansol and chan. some of them were also together, mainly wonwoo and mingyu as well as jeonghan and jisoo. it didn't make things awkward of course, they were all pretty good friends after all.

 

"is he ok?"

 

jeonghan asked from across him. seungcheol nodded, munching on a few fries from his lunch tray.

 

"I'll take him home after break, I'll make sure he has the supplies to treat his wounds and then I'll get home."

 

seungcheol mumbled.

 

seungcheol doesn't even know if it's a good idea. to be seen with the school's well-known 'troublemaker'. and he hated himself for having that thought. he didn't even know jihoon, and here he is, deeming himself too good for the shorter. where did all his morals go?

 

he'll admit, he's been watching jihoon for awhile. although some might overlook the shorter over a large crowd, seungcheol was actually, how would you say, attracted to him. something about the smaller just seemed to attract his attention. seungcheol couldn't exactly pinpoint exactly what, either it was the rumours circulating around the school or the way jihoon's eyes light up when he gets an answer correct in class. or whether it was the way his lips just slowly blooms into a smile whenever he thinks no one is watching when he enters his favourite class.

 

or maybe it was the way jihoon just zones out sometimes and he starts humming his favourite song with that angelic voice of his. yes, seungcheol does sit behind him in class, no he isn't a creep. he's just admiring. seungcheol thinks it's too early to admit that he has a little crush on jihoon so let's just stick to 'admiring' for the time being.

 

-

 

seungcheol couldn't believe he was doing this. he couldn't imagine this was what he would be doing at the end of a school day. he couldn't believe he's actually hacking into the school's system to find out about jihoon's past. he was student council president for heaven's sake. if he gets caught, his future is practically over.

 

yet here he was, in the office while the secretary was away on break, minghao standing guard by the door. he accessed jihoon' s files and started printing them, tapping his foot against the floor. his heart was thundering in his chest, he was even afraid that the loud beating would what cause him to get caught. once he got all the papers, he rushed out of the room, dragging minghao with him. once they reached the safety of their 'office', seungcheol skimmed through the papers.

 

there was no mention of jihoon getting into trouble in the past, there wasn't even a report of him having detention or being suspended.

 

jihoon's record was clean. which was weird, what with all the numerous rumours going around. there was something else though. a past recording of jihoon's meeting with an old school counselor.

 

_the student displayed behaviour of past physical abuse._

 

everything clicked.

 

the bruises. the fear in his eyes when seungcheol mentioned the doctor. the seemingly calm behaviour jihoon had when he was beaten up. like he was used to it.

 

"what is it?"

 

sensing his friend's distress, minghao grabbed the paper from seungcheol's hands, scanning through the page.

 

"oh my god."

 

minghao whispered. seungcheol plopped down in his seat, sighing. minghao tossed the paper onto his desk and approached seungcheol.

 

"what should we do? he's gonna get hurt again, cheol. people are gonna bully him and they wouldn't even care what caused him those bruises. we have to do something. his condition is gonna get worse. you have to talk to him about it. who knows how much worse his mental health is?"

 

minghao said, looking genuinely worried for jihoon. seungcheol pushed his hair back. who would hurt jihoon? who would hurt a child? his thought was interrupted by  a feeling of déjà vu that overwhelmed him when the door burst open, but this time instead of jeonghan walking in, it was wonwoo, and similarly, he was sweating, looking like he had just ran a marathon.

 

something in seungcheol's mind told him that something was wrong, something to do with jihoon, even before wonwoo told them what was wrong.

 

"it's jihoon. some students are ganging up on him, jeonghan and mingyu are there to hold them off but I don't think they'll last long."

 

seungcheol was out the door before wonwoo could even finish his sentence. the trio followed wonwoo out the school compound to the back alley, fully prepared to push through the hoards of students that might have gathered there. except there was no crowd there. seungcheol didn't care though, once he spotted jihoon on the ground, all he could see was red. he grabbed the nearest guy and just went crazy. 

 

pretty soon, it turned into an all out fight. even wonwoo, who didn't like fighting, who didn't believe in violence, was practically kicking a guy in the face at full force, surprising mingyu who was trying to hold off another guy. seungcheol was out of it, and he just kept punching and punching. in fact, he was so out of it he forgot about the small figure lying on the ground. jihoon was watching the fight with wide eyes, propped up, back leaning against a wall nearby. suddenly he was back as that 7-year-old boy being thrown to the ground by his own father, getting punched over and over.

 

suddenly, he was back to that vulnerable child that he tried so hard to hide. suddenly the painful memories came flooding back. the nights spent on his bed trying to cover up his wounds so he wouldn't get an infection. the days spent in fear as to what his father's actions would be next. the nights lying on his bed beside his little sister, crying because everything was just painful.

 

 _his sister_. 

 

a single tear rolled down his cheek, like it was some sort of sentimental scene from a movie. before he knew it, another rolled down. yet there was no sound. the painful memories was playing over and over again in his head, like a broken recorder. the tears cascaded down his cheeks, but he couldn't muster up any energy to just cry out, to make any sound at all. all he could do was stare at seungcheol and he rained down punches on the other guy as the memory played in his head.

 

"cheol?"

 

when he did get his voice back, his first instinct was to call out to seungcheol. his arms felt weak, it was like he couldn't move at all. seungcheol was so out of it he almost missed the soft voice calling him out. but jihoon's voice reached his ears, he looked up. distracted, it gave the guy he was punching time to shove him off and escape. jihoon guessed that the guy must be their leader because as soon as the others saw him running away, they followed suit.

 

seungcheol wiped the blood away from his mouth before making his way over to jihoon. mingyu was examining wonwoo's wounds, that were, thankfully, not severe. minghao and jeonghan was just leaning back against the wall, trying to breathe and calm down, checking to see if they had any severe injuries.

 

"you ok?"

 

seungcheol asked, taking jihoon's previously injured hand in his and examining it to see if the fresh bandage had torn.  it was just dirtied a little, something seungcheol could fix later.

 

"yea. what about you?"

 

jihoon asked, bringing his hand up to cup seungcheol's face, wiping away the splotches of blood left behind with his thumb. seungcheol, despite the situation he was in right now, couldn't help but smile, a soft one stretching across his lips.

 

"yea, I'm good. let's get you cleaned up."

 

seungcheol said. after checking up on the rest of his friends and making sure they were ok, he helped jihoon up and into the school. they headed to the nurse's office, and thankfully, she had went home. after cleaning up and making sure they had properly treated their wounds, seungcheol offered to take jihoon home. the shorter, after agreeing, told him he needed to go to the toilet before leaving.

 

seungcheol was scrolling through his phone, waiting for jihoon, when junhui and jisoo walked through the door. jisoo immediately walked over to his boyfriend, fussing over him and checking to see if he had any serious injuries. after assuring jisoo that he was in fact fine, jeonghan wrapped the other in a hug. he then waved goodbye to the others as he followed jisoo home.

 

junhui on the other hand, rushed over to minghao to immediately wrap him in a hug. minghao also assured him that he was fine and the couple then left. mingyu and wonwoo decided to leave as well, after telling seungcheol that they would see him next week. a few minutes later, jihoon came back from the toilet and the two silently walked out the school compound and onto the main sidewalk. they were both heading in the same direction but didn't question it.

 

"I don't know how to ride a bicycle."

 

jihoon said it so casually like it was a normal dinner conversation. seungcheol was so startled by the sudden confession that he had to process the sentence for a few minutes before he could fully understand what jihoon really said.he looked down at the shorter.

 

"are you serious?"

 

seungcheol asked. jihoon nodded. he sighed. he was going to tell seungcheol. he laughed a little in his head, it sounded like he was going to tell seungcheol he loved him. he wish he could. but no, he was going to tell seungcheol his past. he knew it sounded crazy, even to himself. he met seungcheol only like 2-3 days ago. but there was something about seungcheol, not just because seungcheol was his crush (he hated saying that, it made him sound like some immature high schooler), not because he was student council president, but because he felt like seungcheol was a person he could trust. jihoon's gut was never wrong, it actually saved him on a couple different occasions. and now, it was telling jihoon to tell seungcheol everything. his pain, his past, just everything he went through.

 

"cheol."

 

"hm?"

 

jihoon mumbled, almost timidly. he looked up at seungcheol. at the soft smile on his face. that soft smile that always seem to light up his whole face. at that misplaced strand of hair, seungcheol always had a strand of hair that was always out of place. jihoon looked down.

 

"cheol. I can trust you, right?"

 

seungcheol was taken aback a little.

 

"yea, of course."

 

"ok, well. when I was little,"

 

jihoon could hear seungcheol suck in a breath. he knows. 

 

"my parents expected me to grow up tall and strong. but when I grew up scrawny and short, my father started...beating me. while my mom just watched. when I turned 7, my father started hitting my little sister too. she was only 4. one day, he hit too hard. I still remember that day. she was just lying there, motionless. I prayed that she was just unconscious. but she wasn't. my father killed my little sister. he wasn't even sorry about it. he didn't even attend the funeral. he continued beating me until I turned 15, and he just forced me to move out. he always wanted to get rid of me. I've never visited my home since then, but the bruises just won't disappear."

 

there was a moment of silence. before seunngcheol spoke up.

 

"I know. I saw your file. the meeting with your previous counselor. I'm sorry."

 

jihoon sighed.

 

"it was bound to be uncovered eventually. the principal just never bothered to read through it properly."

 

a comfortable silence filled up the space after that. seungcheol didn't really know what to say.

 

"you're so strong."

 

he settled on that. jihoon looked up.

 

"you're so strong to have endured all of that."

 

he said, looking down at the shorter. jihoon shrugged.

 

"I got over that. my aunt brought me to a therapist after I moved out. and I'm getting better. so I can take care of myself now. I don't get nightmares anymore, the flashbacks are less frequent."

 

jihoon replied. seungcheol could feel his heart race. maybe now was the time to finally ask.

 

"would you maybe like to go out with me this weekend."

 

jihoon almost forgot how to breathe.

 

"I could teach you how to ride a bike. and maybe we could go for lunch after."

 

seungcheol was flustered now, a light shade of red colouring his cheeks, and he didn't know whether it was the cold weather or it was the fact that he was asking his crush out.

 

"are you asking me out choi seungcheol?"

 

jihoon asked, slghtly flustered as well.

 

"and if I was?"

 

"then I'd say yes. I'll go on a date with you. I'd also become your boyfriend if you don't mind."

 

jihoon smiled at his shoes. his heart was beating so fast he was afraid it was going to burst out his chest. seungcheol looked down at the younger, smile bashful and shy.

 

"I'll take care of you, I promise. I won't let anyone else hurt you."

 

seungcheol muttered with so much sincerity jihoon almost cried.

 

"I know you will."

 

he reached up a little to pull seungcheol down, pressing a brief kiss against the side of his lips. he then waved goodbye and walked down the street to get to his apartment. seungcheol was left there, smiling like an idiot, determined to keep his promise. 

 

and he did.

 

jihoon got to meet his group of friends, who were willing to include jihoon and protect him with their lives. jihoon got to learn how to ride a bike. he got to taste ice-cream and stay up all night watching the stars. he got to cuddle with seungcheol during movie nights and he got to wake up to presents and bright lights during christmas. and for once. jihoon wondered if this was what euphoria was like. if this was what happiness really was. he was content with answering that with a yes.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it!! I'm sorry for any mistakes, I'm not really confident in my writing. they did kiss in the end but i'm not good with kissing scenes so i left it out :"""" hope you liked it, ily for reading this!! have a wonderful day sunshine!!! (*^▽^*) (*･▽･*)


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